Shire looks to tackle domestic violence

The Golden Plains Shire wants to join forces with neighbouring municipalities to develop a program to prevent violence against women.

It is applying for $120,000 of annual funding for four years to develop a pilot program with the City of Ballarat and the Hepburn Shire.

A report to the shire says the number of reported domestic violence cases in the municipality is slowly increasing.

The community services director, Jill Evans, says people need to talk about the problem.

"If you are consistently promoting a positive message, then that is picked up by people where there is no violence and I think that's the starting point for this, to continue to get people to talk about it and to recognise it and to recognise when perhaps there are people that may need some help around this," she said.

You have no doubt been hearing a lot about the Paris Agreement and know that it pertains to climate change, but are too embarrassed at this stage to ask for an overall explanation of what it's all about.